It is almost beyond dreaming that even a large measure of the resolve they have called upon during their renaissance of the past few years will save England from defeat in the first Test of this Ashes rematch.

When Ian Bell survived a loud shout as the shadows moved closer to the pitch with metaphorical menace, he was given the opportunity to do no more than shore up a near-hopeless situation. There are, notionally, three days left, but both openers and Paul Collingwood are back in the hutch and England are only 53 runs into Australia's 602 score. That's some gig.

They can hardly blame the pitch. It has bounce but not much devil. Simply, Australia batted superbly, from top to bottom (Ricky Ponting's was the only century in their impressive score), and England's bowlers, with the exception of Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard, disappointed. When England batted, Glenn McGrath rediscovered all his old magic as England froze.

We ought not go on about the 2005 Ashes summer forever, but that entire series set such impossibly high standards of drama that anything less - such as the first two days of this Test - seems oddly out of date.

All morning on the second day England had toiled. There was little spark. Ponting and Michael Hussey batted as if they were going to be there until Christmas. There were no edges, no run-out chances, not a glimmer of light for England. Only Hoggard of the pacemen had bowled near his best, jagging it about for no return. Steve Harmison was still out of sorts (again, his first ball was a wide; might he even be dropped for Adelaide, to make way for Monty Panesar on an alleged turner) and James Anderson could not find a breakthrough ball either.

So any crumb was welcome and, in the 107th over, England thought they'd been presented with one. A steepling, brutish delivery by Andrew Flintoff looked to nick Ponting's bat handle or glove on its way to Geraint Jones. He was a mere 167 at the time. A disbelieving Flintoff, never one for futile histrionics, could do no more than stand gob-smacked in centre pitch, his appeal for caught behind denied by Steve Bucknor.

Much has been made of Channel Nine's new hot-spot technology - Tony Greig went as far as to say, not altogether jokingly, that it would weed out the cheats - but, for whatever reason, they have fixed the cameras for it ludicrously low, as well as doing away with the snickometer. So, in this case, with the ball flying two or three feet above the radar, there was no way to detect any bat-ball contact - and Bucknor, whose umpiring has dipped below his high standards, escaped trial by gadget.

Then, in a perfect riposte to his perceived injustice, Flintoff plucked out Michael Hussey's off-stump to offer England a hint of hope at 407 for four. The left-hander had batted magnificently as foil to his captain and promises to dominate Australia's top order for rest of his late-starting career.

Flintoff might have had Michael Clarke next ball but Bucknor remained unmoved. It had flicked the top of his pad. A bouncer rounded out the over, one of Flintoff's angriest since he cracked open Australia's middle order at Edgbaston last year.

Harmison was reintroduced at the Vulture Street End. His body language was fine; he was obviously striving hard for any sort of rhythm, but his Meccano-set action remained stubbornly out of synch and Clarke, still edgy, was allowed to settle in.

The impression that Australia were going to close out the match with a significant score was given impetus when Clarke unshackled himself with the first six of the match, a straight thump back over Ashley Giles's head.

Then Bucknor finally, slowly, thankfully raised his finger of death and Ponting was on his way for 196. It had been one of the truly fine innings of the past few seasons. This, his ninth century in 12 matches, has set him apart from his peers.

Hoggard was the grateful recipient of the lbw decision and his mood was immediately enhanced when he trapped Adam Gilchrist immobile in front for 0. He ought to have had Shane Warne for two, but Anderson couldn't hang on to a difficult diving catch. It was the first drop of the match, in the 129th over, which is a positive of sorts.

Clarke went at tea, Anderson's swing luring him into one flashy shot too many. It was a lovely innings, though. Lusty hitting by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark then took Australia past 600. Worse was to come for England.

McGrath, rising 38, might have lost some zip - but little of his effectiveness. In two balls he put England firmly on the rack. A rising cutter that was leaving Andrew Strauss's bat induced a poor hook that spooned enticingly to backward square where Hussey, who barreled into the advancing Lee, dashed to catch it. While Lee retired briefly for attention to a gashed leg, McGrath then shifted Alastair Cook, caught at first slip by Warne. Could the old magician get a hat-trick to celebrate his return after 11 months away from Test cricket? No. But he'd done enough. He'd ensured the game now had gone almost irretrievably Australia's way.